OTET Aspirants Stage Protest at BSE Office over Alleged Exam Irregularities

Cuttack: Odisha Teacher Eligibility Test (OTET) aspirants staged a protest in Cuttack, in front of the Board of Secondary Education (BSE), Odisha. Their grievances centred on alleged irregularities in the OTET exam and result publication, which occurred last week.

Protestors encircled the BSE office, claiming errors in the question paper and result declaration. They demanded a thorough reevaluation of scores and the allocation of 10 grace marks.

Despite challenging the answer key by paying a fee of Rs 500 per question, candidates reported that their marks had not been revised. Additionally, they cited non-refunded fees and the reluctance of authorities to provide OMR sheets as concerns.

The demonstrators also called for changes in the OTET scheduling. They insisted that the OTET examination should precede the Junior Teacher exam and highlighted that the OTET, which is designed to be conducted twice annually, has not adhered to this schedule.

“We urge the authorities to hold OTET exams biannually, with the Junior Teacher exam following suit,” one candidate emphasized, further requesting an early release of OTET notifications.

Some candidates expressed frustration over narrowly missing the qualification mark by a single point. They called for the reevaluation of four questions and anticipated gaining an additional 3 to 4 marks. However, they lamented the lack of response from authorities despite having paid Rs 2,000 for questioning the exam.

As of now, there has been no response from the concerned authorities regarding the protestors’ allegations.